A/N: Hello! I'm Laura :D So… this is my first story. I dunno where this idea came from, it just did. This is actually coming from another random story I wrote. I modified it to fit Twilight, so if there are any names you don't recognize or anything else that just doesn't make sense, I apologize in advance.

Please give me as much feedback as you can, it would be really appreciated 

Constructive criticism is always welcome, flames are not.

Disclaimer: I own nothing. Boohoo.

Shadow of the Day

Prologue

People often say to "expect the unexpected".

To which I say, "What the hell? That makes absolutely no sense!"

No, really. When you think about it, expecting the unexpected is completely impossible. If you were to expect the unexpected, then the unexpected would soon become the, well, expected. And if the unexpected becomes the expected, then the saying would become expect the expected, which contradicts the other expectation quote.

If you were able to figure that out, I applaud you.

As you may have already assumed, I'm not exactly a "deep" person. Nope, the whole feely-feely, touchy-touchy, let's-have-a-nice-girl-talk-where-you-cry-on-my-shoulder-till-two-in-the-morning was never really my thing. It took a great deal of effort for me to voice my feelings to people; I usually just kept them inside until I was just about ready to combust.

I was more on the receiving end of the emotional spectrum. I would always be the friend bringing over a tub of ice cream and letting you cry out your heart break rather the one actually doing the crying.

If you said to me, "When life gives you lemons, make lemonade", I would reply, "When life gives you lemons, throw those lemons back and tell life to make its own damn lemonade!"

Call me a cynic if you will. I didn't believe in true love, love at first sight, soul mates, and all that jazz. Of course there was a time I thought I did, but that pretty much fell flat, so I turned my back on love and all its emotional ups and downs.

But going back to that expectation quote, it is kind of ironic how life turns out isn't it? I never expected what happened to happen and I never expected for it to happen when it did.

And don't tell me that I should have "expected the unexpected" since I couldn't have possibly predicted for those things to happen.

Life is a whole mystery; believe me, for I've experienced it first hand.

For me, my "unexpected" happened at a time in my life when I was drowning in emotion. I know I said I wasn't an emotional person, but that is what happens to one who coops up their feelings. They turn into a black hole.

Sure it all sorted itself out in the end, but I guess what I'm trying to say is; it is impossible to expect the unexpected, so in reality, you never know what's coming. But isn't that the beauty of life? To unravel our lives' mysteries and take them head on, not knowing where you're going or who you're going to meet, new faces and old, is something we could, should, all experience.

As I said, I never expected that the decision I made to do what I did to take me where I am today. It was completely and utterly unexpected.

And you know what? I don't regret it.

So, my dear friends-who-I-do-not-know, when someone says to me, "expect the unexpected", I say right back;

"What the crap? What do you think I am? A psychic? No. I'm not going to sit around and expect the unexpected, I'm going to get out there and live the unexpected."

Chapter 1: Hometown Glory

"Bella!"

I spun around at the call of my name to see my father, Charlie, waving frantically at me from the other end of the train station. I waved back before picking up my bags and walking towards him.

I only had a couple pieces of luggage with me, all my other stuff had been sent in advance to Seattle University, where I was transferring to from the university I was going to back in Phoenix, Arizona.

Charlie's place in my hometown of Forks was only a pit stop. Tomorrow I was driving all the way to Seattle.

As soon as I reached my dad, he enveloped me in a loving hug. I'll admit it was a little awkward. Charlie didn't often show me outward signs of affection and neither did I. Our relationship was good, just not all "I love you" all the time. But I guess, given the current situation, this time was an exception.

I sort of gave him a slightly awkward one-armed hug and a pat on the back in response. I loved him, but I wasn't exactly in a "huggy" mood.

Then again, nowadays, I seemed to never be in a "huggy" mood.

"How was the trip?" Charlie asked conversationally while he helped me load my bags into the trunk of the car.

I shrugged. "Fine."

Charlie looked at me worriedly but didn't say anything, for which I was grateful. I didn't want to talk. I wanted to go to bed and sleep; I'll just pretend it's not only six in the evening.

"Do you want to go out for dinner?" Charlie asked me.

"Sure."

I knew he wanted to talk about… it, but I couldn't bring myself to. He probably thought it would help me move on, but I didn't want to and not forcing me to talk was the least he could do. After all, I made this big move from Phoenix to Seattle because he wanted me to.

Okay, that's not entirely true, but it is sort of.

Ever since it happened, Charlie wanted me to transfer to a school closer to Forks to be closer to him. I was his only family left and he was mine, so he wanted me closer by, even if I'm only closer by a few hours.

We drove into Forks and towards a small little restaurant we used to go to when I was a little kid.

Driving through Forks, after over two years of absence was… nostalgic. Memories flooded into my mind full force, some of them great, others, not so great. Even just being in the airport earlier had caused unwanted memories to make a reappearance.

I waited, sitting on the seat in my plane terminal .They were going to call my flight any minute now. People filled the terminal, walking every which way. It all felt dream like, like what I was doing somehow wasn't real.

Sighing, I took out my cell phone and called the familiar number to make the call I was dreading.

"Hey B, what's up? Oh wait, before you answer that, are you doing anything today? I want to go to the movies."

I almost chickened out when I heard Alice's voice. She was one of my best friends and I felt extremely guilty having to tell her goodbye like this

.

"Um, Ali, I have something to tell you, but you have to promise not to get mad or go crazy on me, okay?"

"Bella, now you have me worried. What happened?! Are you in the hospital DYING?!" she was almost shrieking at the other end. Trust Alice to jump to conclusions and get hysterical.

"Promise?"

"Okay, I promise. Now tell me! Wait- Oh. My. God. Are you PREGNANT?!"

"What?! NO! It's just that…" I hesitated.

"Tell me now, Isabella Marie Swan, or so help me God, I wil-"

"I'mattheairportabouttogoonaplanetoPhoenix." I spit out in a rush.

"What?"

I sighed, "I'm at airport, about to go on a plane to Phoenix."

"What?! As in Phoenix, Arizona?! Now?! For good?!" Alice sputtered.

I put my face in my free hand, groaning in exasperation. Not towards Alice, but towards the whole situation. I hated goodbyes.

"Yes, now. My flight is leaving in less than twenty minutes. I'm sorry Ali…"

"Sorry? Sorry?! How could you Bella? I thought we were friends, BEST friends, and you don't bother to tell be you're moving to ARIZONA till the last freaking minute!"

I winced at that. She had a point.

"You promised you wouldn't go crazy or get mad. Just listen to me…" I waited a second to let her calm down. "I know this is sudden and you have every right to hate me right now, but I do have my reasons."

"Why Phoenix? It's so far."

"Because I got accepted at a prestigious school there. If I graduate from there, I'd get accepted in pretty much any university or college English program in the U.S., maybe even in North America. I couldn't pass up on the opportunity. Staying here would do nothing for me and it's convenient since my mom already lives there. Face it, Forks High isn't exactly the artsy-est school." (A/N: I don't know if this is actually true or not. I made it up)

There was a brief silence on the other end before, "Something tells me you have ulterior motives."

I let out a dry laugh. "You know me too well Alice."

"Why didn't you tell me sooner? Does anyone else know about this?"

"Besides Charlie and my mom? No."

"Why did you wait so long to tell me?" she said sounding sad. I hated for her to sound like that.

"I was going to tell you a few days ago when I went to your house for movie night, but I was… distracted, to say the least."

"Wait, was it him?"

"Maybe… him and a certain her…"

"I knew it! I knew that if my brother decided to show off his new girlfriend in your face, you'd get upset. He's such a jackass, I swear, he knows how you feel and stupidly thought you'd be okay when he dumps the news of a girlfriend on you. Oh, there will be blood tonight. I swe-"

"Alice, stop! I'm not mad at him or anything."

"Yeah, but I am."

"Please don't be so harsh on him. He told me her doesn't feel the same way. He has every right to have a girlfriend. It's not his fault he doesn't see me that way. "

"So you're saying you don't mind?"

"I never said that…"

"Bella, you know he loves you so much, right? He's just so stubborn sometimes that he's pushed his mind into denial. Just… give him time. You're his best friend in the world and when he realizes-"

"No, Alice. He doesn't feel the same way. I've given him enough time already, and he hasn't done anything" I said cutting her off again, "He never will. I'm trying to get over him, but being around him so much isn't helping that. That's my other reason I'm leaving. I need space to clear my head, and if I said anything earlier he would have tried to stop me."

"You do know what this will do to him, right?"

"He'll be fine. He has Tanya. He doesn't need me anymore and he won't need me ever again."

"I'm going to miss you…"

Ah, the part I was dreading most; the emotional goodbye.

"I'm going to you too Ali, but I really need this."

"When are you coming back?"

"I don't know. Not for a while. Definitely not till I graduate at least and even then I will be busy with post-secondary school."

"Not even to visit?"

"No. I'm so sorry Ali, but I need this so badly. I can't really be around him or Forks or anything that reminds me of him for a while, or I will combust."

I heard a sniffle on the other end and tried to cheer her up by using one of the many over used quotes we loved so much. "Alice! What is your name?"

I smiled when I heard her giggle at the familiar X-Men 2 quote.

"John."

"John, what is your real name?"

"PYRO!!!"

We laughed together before someone announced the boarding of my flight.

"You have to go now." Alice sighed.

"Yeah. I'll call you later, okay? I'm sorry again. Bye."

"Bye Bells. I love you."

"Me too."

I hung up my phone and looked forward as I walked to board the plane. Once seated I kept looking forward towards my future, leaving a piece of me behind.

I rubbed my temples, trying to erase the painful memory, one among many, wishing I had amnesia or something.

Charlie parked the car outside the familiar small restaurant and we walked inside silently.

After we were seated, Charlie and I talked a bit about senseless things. I lost some of my icy exterior and laughed a bit. I really missed my father; living away from him was harder than I thought it would have been.

Some of the few other people in the restaurant recognized me and started up new conversations. No one mentioned what happened, so I suspected either Charlie didn't tell anyone, or they were simply being polite.

It didn't matter either way; as long as no one brought it up I was good.

Both Charlie and I agreed to keep the incident confidential, only telling the full story to people we truly trusted.

For Charlie, that was a couple close friends. For me, it was no one.

I made a few friends in Phoenix, but no one I was remotely close to like how I was close to Alice and her family, the Cullens.

I wished I could tell Alice. I missed her so much when I moved away. Of course, I also missed him. But seeing as he was the main reason I left in the first place, I wasn't going to do anything about it.

Alice however, I did try to keep in touch with. For the first year or so, it wasn't too bad. But after that, it went downhill. We were both busy with school, trying to get into the universities and colleges of our choice that we ended up loosing contact within a few short months.

But I didn't regret moving to Montreal with my mom. I went to clear my head and to help me get over him, and it did. I wasn't completely cured, I didn't think I'd ever be, but I was certainly better than I was two years ago.

Of course, if you saw me two years ago, you probably wouldn't have noticed the emotional turmoil going on inside. I was a good actress and tended to hide my more upsetting feelings. It wasn't easy for me to admit being vulnerable, scared, or in that particular case, in love.

I eventually did admit it, and sadly it did me no good. Thus, the emotional turmoil.

No, I wasn't emo, although now I might be.

Me being better wasn't the reason I came back. I already said the first reason was because Charlie wanted me to.

The second reason was because my mother, Renee, was killed.

She was murdered and I was there.

I didn't want to stay in Phoenix after her death. The constant nightmares and horrid memories were too much and I was hoping a change of scenery would help me forget.

As if I could ever forget.

But there was also a third reason that only Charlie and I knew. No one else.

Someone was on the loose, someone I knew and hated.

And until he was found, my life was in danger.